Traders toast NGV

Art lovers sit and contemplate one of the works at the newly renovated National Gallery of Victoria.
Photo: Simon O'Dwyer

The National Gallery of Victoria may have been around for 142 years but yesterday, the newly reopened site reached its one-week anniversary.

More than 70,000 people have descended upon the St Kilda Road building since it reopened last Thursday - 18,000 on Sunday alone - and a stroll through the complex reveals familiar scenes.

There are women's groups on guided tours, families lying face-up beneath the stained glass ceiling, and crowds in front of drawcards such as Giambattista Tiepolo's restored Banquet of Cleopatra.

And Cleopatra is not the only one who has been feasting, with gallery patrons downing 800 litres of chicken curry and 100 kilograms of fish cakes in the past seven days, along with 1000 cups of coffee a day.

Nearby traders have also been serving up a storm. Monte Coffee, located between the gallery and the Arts Centre, had four times the usual amount of customers on Sunday, and owner Kevin Zmegac is planning to put on two extra, full-time staff. Down the road, Stryder Aris, who runs a mobile ice-cream and hot-dog van, says sales have increased by up to 75 per cent.